Need to know: Who are the Glazer family?

The lowdown on the American billionaire and his clan which took over Britain's most famous football club

Joel, Avram and Bryan Glazer at Old Trafford after their controversial takeover of Man Utd (Getty)

Who are they?Headed by patriarch Malcolm, 81, the Glazers are a Jewish-American family
which is valued by Forbes magazine as being worth $2.2bn. They run
the First Allied Corporation, which controls many companies in the food
processing industry, and also own American football team the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. Since Malcolm suffered two strokes in 2006, much of the
day-to-day work of the family has been conducted by his sons Joel, Bryan and
Avram.

How did they take over Manchester United?Following BSkyB's abortive takeover of the club in 1999, the Glazers began
to buy up shares in Manchester United until in 2005 they had acquired almost
30% of the club. After buying out the second-largest shareholders JP McManus
and John Magnier's 27.8% on May 12, 2005, then hoovering up a further 17% of
shares over the next few days, Glazer owned three-quarters of the club and
delisted it from